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Milk fluoridation: a comparison of dental health in two school communities in England
J C Riley1, B K Klause, C J Manning
1Birkenhead and Wallasey Primary Care Trust, Wirral, UK.
Objective:
To compare levels of caries experience in children attending schools in Wirral that have a fluoridated milk programme with children in a similar community which does not have a fluoridated milk programme.
Study Design:
A cross sectional study measuring caries experience in first permanent molars. Children were examined on an 'intention to treat' basis and the effect of clustering of children within schools was taken into account.
Participants:
690 children in Wirral (test group) and 1,835 children in Sefton (comparison group) were examined for caries experience (DMFT/DT/DFS) in 2003. The mean ages of the children examined in the test and comparison groups were 10.79 and 10.83 years respectively.
Results:
Mean DMFT/DT/DFS values were 1.01/0.59/1.20 respectively in the test group and 1.46/1.02/1.89 respectively in the comparison group. Multiple linear regression analysis taking clustering of children within schools into account and with the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2000 as an explanatory variable gave the coefficients and p-values for DMFT/DT/DFS of 0.49 (p < 0.001)/0.43 (p < 0.001)/0.74 (p < 0.001) respectively.
Conclusion:
A difference in children with caries experience of 13% and a difference in children with active decay of 16% was found when a district with a community fluoridated milk programme was compared with a district without a fluoridated milk programme.
